House Republicans to elect new Trump-era leadership with majority still undecided

House Republicans are gathering behind closed doors Wednesday to elect their leaders in the next Congress.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are all running for their current roles again with no stated challengers as of Tuesday afternoon.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson, R-N.C., is also running for another term.

Each of the four leaders will still have to pitch themselves to the House Republican Conference on Wednesday morning, and the election is expected later that afternoon.

But contests are expected for the No. 5 and No. 6 House GOP leadership roles. Three House Republicans have confirmed they are running for House GOP conference chair: Reps. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Lisa McClain, R-Mich.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is not running for the role again after she was tapped to be ambassador to the United Nations in the new Trump administration.

That position is in charge of overseeing and executing the conference’s messaging as well as setting up conference-wide meetings.

Two Republicans are also vying for the role of House GOP policy committee chair: Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., is challenging current Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, R-Ala.

Hern, who is term-limited for leading the House GOP’s de facto conservative think tank, has been actively campaigning for the role.

Fox News Digital obtained fliers on Tuesday that Hern’s staff was distributing to fellow Republicans touting Hern’s endorsement for the low-level leadership role.

Even if Wednesday’s elections come together drama-free, Johnson will have to work to win the support of hard-line Republican skeptics – some of whom have already signaled they will need to be persuaded by the speaker – in time for the House-wide vote for speaker in January.

Electing a House speaker requires a full majority vote in the House. While the final numbers are still up in the air, Republicans are widely expected to keep the majority by just single digits.

It means Johnson can afford precious little dissent to win the gavel again and avoid a scenario like the infamous 15-round vote for House speaker that ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., endured in early 2022.